There’s one surefire thing you can do to protect yourself from the home-improvement scammers I’ve been talking and writing about for the past few weeks, and that’s nothing.
For a con artist to rip you off, you have to do something: write a check, sign a contract, let him into your house, say “yes.”
Don’t do it. He’ll go away if you ignore him. I can guarantee that.
So-called home-improvement contractors who knock on your door without an invitation, offer you a too-good-to-be-true deal or pressure you into handing over a deposit for a one-day-only special are looking for an easy mark. Don’t be one.
If you make it hard for a scammer to execute his scam, he’ll “scam”-per away and find someone who’s more gullible.
If you press him to show you a contractor’s license, proof of insurance and a photo ID—even after he tells you they’re in the truck or he forgot them or his partner has them—he’ll leave you alone.
If you tell him you want to have a look at his truck—and then let him see you write down the license tag number and hear you ask why there’s no company logo on the door—he’ll go away.
If you matter-of-factly let him know that you’re going to call the police if he doesn’t get lost, he’ll go.
When he does, notify the
Arizona Registrar of Contractors. Let them know the license tag number, the name this unwelcome solicitor gave you and everything he said to you. You’ve protected yourself from a headache-in-the-making. Pay it forward by helping to prevent someone else from getting snagged.
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